Domains - how to install them?

Frequently asked questions about domains management.

What is technical domain? Can I change technical domain after installation?

Technical domain is a store code name and always looks like this name.iai-shop.com or name.idosell.com. Technical domain name can be entered during store order process.

Technical domain allows to:

  • create shop mask without interfering in old store operations,
  • perform data import and check its correctness without interfering in old store,
  • perfect everything and redirect domain when everything is ready,
  • enter store name during contacts with our consultants,
  • check if store works, when there are problems with your domain - i.e. it has expired.

Technical domain cannot be changed after store has been installed. It is however not important, what is the store name in our system. If you change your mind concerning the store name and domain to be assigned to it, just buy and assign domain with other words!

How do add domain to my new store? - Own domain instead of technical domain

Extraclothes.eu or sock-store.idosell.com?

Your newly created store is available at yourname.idosell.com or yourname.iai-shop.com. It is so-called technical domain. When you register your own domain, your store gains address:

  • shorter,
  • easier to remember,
  • prettier,
  • more interesting,
  • drawing attention,
  • maybe funny,
  • ... and better.

Your domain name can also contain national characters

If you do not have domain yet:

Register domain, i.e. on www.ovh.co.uk or ovh.com (we are not participating in domain registration process and we do not cooperate with any company, so the choice is yours to make). When ordering domain, assign it to our DNS servers:

  • Primary dns: dns1.iai-system.com
  • Secondary dns: dns2.iai-system.com

If you already have a domain:

If you already have domain (or domains), add them to the IdoSell.com panel in ADMINISTRATION \ Domains, SSL, redirections and system services management \ Domain management \ Add new domain. If you want to add more than one domain, first add the one you consider main. It is very important when it comes to your store position in Google search results. All links and redirections cumulate in main domain, which of course affects your rating. Options of main domain assignment can be found in ADMINISTRATION \ Domains, SSL, redirections and system services management \ Choose the main domain.

Adding to DNS and domain assignment

After assigning domain to our DNS, go to domain management page (hosting company should provide one) and select assignment to external DNS servers option (or something similar). Next step is filling in fields:

  • Primary dns: dns1.iai-system.com
  • Secondary dns: dns2.iai-system.com

If there are fields to add IP addresses, leave them empty.

After 24-48 hours after domain has been assigned, you should be redirected to your store after entering its address into web browser. If store is not visible in your domain after this time, contact your domain provider and make sure, that it had been properly assigned to our DNS servers (Primary dns: dns1.iai-system.com Secondary dns: dns2.iai-system.com) and - if it has been verified - contact our support department via ticketing system.

If you want to also have e-mail accounts in your domain (i.e. store@yourdomain.com, orders@yourdomain.co.uk etc.) familiarize yourself with guide to Google Apps account creation.

What kind of domain assignment should I choose?

  • I have a domain from provider and e-mail service in the same domain and I would like to continue using it. I would only like to set redirection to my store page.

In this case, you should choose partial assignment - enter full domain name (starting with www.), mark No and click on Next. Domain will be added to list.

Notice: Add this domain again, just without www. prefix. Just enter domain name (without www.), mark No and click Next. Domain will be added to list.

Now you can configure domain assignment in provider's software.

  • I have a domain from provider and e-mail service in the same domain But I am not using it. I would like to use other e-mail service.

We recommend full assignment - just enter domain name (without www. - it is already fixed), mark Yest and click on Next. You will be automatically transferred to newly-added domain edition.

Notice: You need to also configure the e-mail services. We always recommend Gmail.

If you already have Gmail configured, you can add it from domain edition menu:
1. Mark On for Handling e-mails in the %s domain.
2. E-mails in the domain supported by servers - select Google.
3. Enter content of file verifying domain ownership - paste file contents.
4. Is your domain fully integrated with the Google Apps? - select Yes.
5. Click on Save changes.

Now configure domain assignment in provider's software.

  • I have a domain from provider without e-mail service.

We recommend full assignment - just enter domain name (without www. - it is already fixed), mark Yest and click on Next. You will be automatically transferred to newly-added domain edition.

Notice: You need to also configure the e-mail services. We always recommend Gmail.

If you already have Gmail configured, you can add it from domain edition menu:
1. Mark On for Handling e-mails in the %s domain.
2. E-mails in the domain supported by servers - select Google.
3. Enter content of file verifying domain ownership - paste file contents.
4. Is your domain fully integrated with the Google Apps? - select Yes.
5. Click on Save changes.

Now configure domain assignment in provider's software.

  • I have a domain and e-mail service from another provider.

We recommend full assignment, but partial assignment is also possible, but e-mail handling will be performed by its provider. If you want to quickly assign your domain, select partial assignment. If you want to assign it comprehensively, contact your service provider and ask about possibility of full domain assignment to external servers. If your provider allow this, you can perform this operation.

Different domain for language version?

Yes, it is possible to organize your store pages, so your customers could reach your store language versions trough different addresses and switch them whenever you want. Default and the cheapest way to display your store offer to foreign customers is to install additional language version to a store. Thanks to this solution, you can offer plain information for customers from multiple countries. To further localize their offer, many of our customers want to have national domain - .de, .ie, co.uk etc. - and offer different prices for customers abroad. This is why we recommend installation of additional store - in the IdoSell.com you can easily run multiple stores in single administration panel.

Launching additional store is cheap (see the price list), and allows to configure different main domains for each store, offer different prices of the same products or limit assortment for a particular market. You do not have to order additional store mask (but of course you can!) - just use the same, but translated mask. More information about multiple stores can be found on page: multiple shops in single panel.

How many domains can be assigned to single store? How can I choose which domains should be assigned to store? What is the main domain?

In the IdoSell.com you can assign any number of domains to each store for free. Each store always has a technical domain, so you can run your store without own domain.

If you want to assign your own domain to a store, contact our support department via ticketing system. Add list of all domains you want to assign and which will be the main one.

Thanks to main domain mechanism built-in the IdoSell.com you can achieve better results of SEO. Customer can enter any of your domains into web browser, but he will be always redirected to the main domain. Search engines see all your domains as one domain, what of course affect your position in search results.

I already have domain. Can I use it?

Yes, of course you can assign domain to your store. Just follow up instructions above.

What is SPF record and how can I find it?

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record is Domain Name Service (DNS) record type, that identifies postal servers allowed to send e-mails "on behalf of" domain. It should - as intended - make impossible to send e-mails by unauthorized persons with false e-mail in your domain.

SPF record checks IP addresses, from which messages can be sent. These information are stored on DNS servers and each recipient server can verify if sender had the right to send this message in particular domain.

Most of popular postal servers check if sender IP is present in SPF record. Is often happens, that domains without SPF record complemented are added to black lists.

  • Configuration:

When making full domain assignment, SPF record is always complemented in our administration panel automatically. By default it is always complemented with IP of the same server as panel operates on. You can however add your own records in 'ADMINISTRATION \ Domains, SSL, redirections and system services management \ Domain management \ domain (edit) \ The rest of the SPF record defines its own settings (optional field).

If you want to add additional IP address, enter additional value into this field, i.e. ip4:23.45.67.89/32. You should also note, that default setting does not block the possibility of sending messages from other addresses, not included in record. It only provides information about addresses, that are allowed to send e-mails, but every every other address can be sender. To make sending messages from other addresses (than ones entered in SPF record), go to the same place as above and enter -all value in "The rest of the SPF record defines its own settings (optional field)" field.

For customers that do not have full domain assignment, SPF record should be configured in provider's software. If you want to secure yourself, remember about adding IP address of server, store panel is installed on.

I have a domain with partial assignment - how can I setup SPF records to be able to send e-mails from store server?

When it comes to partial domain assignment, you need to configure the SPF in domain provider's panel. To do this:

1. Go to DNS configuration of your domain.
2. Create TXT record with following value: "v=spf1 include:spf.iai-sa.com ~all".

Changes in your domain configuration will be visible in approximately 24-48 hours.

If you encounter any problems with configuration, we recommend making a full domain assignment to our DNS servers.

How to check, whether SPF record is configured correctly?

Multiple tools to check DNS configuration are available all over the Internet, but all you need is the system command line.

  • In Windows and Linux console enter:
    nslookup -querytype=TXT domain.com
    • In MacOS console enter::
      dig domain.com -t txt

Just replace the "domain.com" with your real domain name. As a result, you will be able to learn, what servers are assigned to domain in the TXT record.

How to modify SPF record, if I have full domain assignment?

When making a full domain assignment to our servers, SPF record configuration is performed in your administration panel. By default, it is complemented with IP address of server, your store is working at (it allows to correctly send automatic messages to customers), and MX record value, which is the current mail server, that handles your domain.

You can of course add your own items in ADMINISTRATION / Domains, SSL, redirections and system services management / Domain management / domain (edit) / The rest of the SPF record, that defines its own settings (optional field)

If you want to add new IP address, just enter a value into this field, e.g. ip4:23.45.67.89/32.

Please also note, that the default setting does not block the possibility of sending e-mails from other IP addresses, that those present in the record. This record only indicates, which addresses are permitted to send e-mails, but every other one can be a sender. To exclude other servers from sending messages, enter following value into the "The rest of the SPF record, that defines its own settings (optional field)" field:
-all